Mailbox data storage system

ABSTRACT

A mailbox data storage mechanism for a remote device in a heating, ventilation and air conditioning environment. The mechanism, as a part of a gateway device and acting as a citizen of the heating, ventilation and air conditioning environment, may collect system information regularly and maintain a copy of the latest data locally which can be a response to external access requests in time at any moment. The mechanism may limit the latency for external access and improve user experience. The mechanism may help satisfy multiple interfaces.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure pertains to control, storage, reporting andselection systems. Particularly, the disclosure pertains to acommunication system using a gateway device for expanding a userinterface.

SUMMARY

The disclosure reveals a mailbox data storage mechanism for a remotedevice in a heating, ventilation and air conditioning environment. Themechanism, as a part of a gateway device and acting as a citizen of theheating, ventilation and air conditioning environment, may collectsystem information regularly and maintain a copy of the latest datalocally which can be a response to external access requests in time atany moment. The mechanism may limit the latency for external access andimprove user experience. The mechanism may help satisfy multipleinterfaces.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a gateway device and components outside thedevice;

FIG. 2 is a diagram of items interacting with the gateway device;

FIG. 3 is a diagram of components incorporated in the gateway device;

FIG. 4 is a diagram of a sequence for the mailbox mechanism;

FIG. 5 is a diagram of a gateway and hosts;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a round robin sequence;

FIG. 7 is a diagram of a mailbox setup;

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing some details of an RF region enrollment anduser interface;

FIG. 9 is a diagram of a message handler;

FIG. 10 is a diagram of a house domain and an internet domain;

FIG. 11 is a diagram of a gateway structure;

FIG. 12 is a diagram of transmission of thermostat user interfaceupdates from a host domain;

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a way that a user on the web can change athermostat setpoint and have a message sent to the gateway;

FIG. 14 is a diagram of a service application structure or architecture;

FIG. 15 is a diagram of a facility having wireless connections betweenthe gateway device and hosts;

FIG. 16 is a diagram of a gateway in a house wirelessly connected tohosts in several zones;

FIG. 17 is a diagram of a table that reveals command descriptions;

FIG. 18 is a diagram of a table showing a response/report having aheader showing fields, bits, name and description;

FIG. 19 is a diagram of a table showing an example of a deviceinformation response;

FIG. 20 is a diagram of a table showing a structure of a managementcommand message;

FIG. 21 is a diagram of a table showing a structure for encapsulatinginformation to be sent to a service; and

FIGS. 22a-22r are diagrams of schematics for hardware in the presentsystem.

DESCRIPTION

There may be a mailbox data storage mechanism for a remote device in anHVAC environment. For an intelligent HVAC system, various HVAC devicesmay work together by communicating with each other through theirspecific “language” (i.e., HVAC communication protocol). A remote accessgateway device may provide the remote accessibility from other systemsto this HVAC system, for example, access to the HVAC information throughethernet. This may require the gateway device to provide the informationtranslation and transmission capabilities between the different systems.There may always be the latency issue for a communication betweendifferent systems. The approach may provide a better user experiencewhen the user accesses the information to an HVAC system remotely byimplementing the mailbox data storage mechanism in a gateway device.

The mechanism may be different relative to the usual gateway devicemechanism which simply forwards the command and response between twosystems. It may provide a mailbox-like data storage mechanism on theremote gateway device.

The device may act as a citizen of the HVAC system, collect the systeminformation regularly and maintain a copy of latest data locally, whichcan be used to respond to the external access requests in time at anymoment. The device may limit the latency for external access and improvethe user experience. The mailbox may help to satisfy multipleinterfaces.

The mechanism may also introduce an auto update capability which cansend the HVAC system information changes to another system automaticallyonce it detects there is a change. The auto update capability may helpreflect a change to an external system in time, and help reduce thetraffic between different systems because the device can detect thechanged section of data automatically and transmit only the change orchanges to others.

Another benefit from this mechanism may be that it makes the gatewaydevice more extendable from an architecture perspective. A usual gatewaydevice may provide communication capability between two differentsystems. But the gateway device with mailbox data storage may extendthis capability to N systems (where N>2) because of intelligent logichardware and software in the system.

The mailbox data storage mechanism may collect the latest HVACinformation regularly, respond to the external command with local dataimmediately, and transmit the changed data out once it is detectedthere. One may note FIG. 4 with a diagram of a sequence for the mailboxmechanism.

There may be remote access gateway configurable control. The gatewaydevice may be an embedded computer with a limited user interface. Thedevice may have, for example, just one button and three LED's. Achallenge may be to configure the device and remotely command the deviceto change its behavior (i.e., registration, reset, get information,change of operations, and so on). The approach may permit an installeror user to remotely configure the gateway device as needed and modifythe behavior of the device remotely by a server application. Theapproach may also permit control of a gateway start process action at auser's command. This may help the installer and users to setup orcontrol more than one device at a time, reduce the cost for managing thegateway, and make the configuration much easier to achieve.

The approach may provide for development of a series of control commandsto set or adjust the gateway running parameters and modify the behaviorof the device, or start a process action. There may be configurationcommands to control a device remotely. Server commands may be used forunattended devices, with no maintenance.

For instance, a device may be able to set up a ping rate to modify theping behavior of the gateway and/or prevent it from sending messages.This capability may be used to reduce traffic from gateways that are notregistered to a particular user. It may also be used when a gateway hasbeen compromised due to hacking. It may be able to reset the gatewayremotely to avoid doing it on the device by removing the power. It maybe able to get gateway device information and current running statusremotely and provide a server or user for an application. The commandoperation may also be used for data transmission, like sending a newsoftware version to the gateway device.

Since the gateway may be done for remote access of the home HVAC device,one may build a web server application to operate the home HVAC device.It may adopt the web server application and integrate the gateway devicecontrol page to provide an installer or user an ability to operate thehome HVAC device. Also, the gateway may need to add software capabilityfor a command response. When the gateway receives the commands from theweb application, it may need to act upon the command definition andrespond to the server whether it executes a command successfully or not.

There may be an asynchronous reporting mechanism for a remote device inan HVAC environment. When HVAC equipment fails as part of a systeminstalled in a house, an error reporting message may be propagated inthe house to a central device with a display to alert the home owner. Ifthe system is connected to a remote access gateway, the information mayalso be displayed to a user but only when the user connects to itsaccount. The user may need to be alerted urgently. A communicationmedium may be required when an event is needed to be sent to the serverwithout the user being on its account. Without this, the user may needto be online to see the alert. To resolve this issue, an asynchronousmessage may be required to be sent to the server.

Using gateway information (i.e., device address), the report informationmay be sent to the user account and then using a second messaging mediumdirectly to the user messaging device, e.g., email or cellular phoneshort message service (SMS). An asynchronous message may be sent by adevice without user intervention or request.

This asynchronous message may include the gateway device address, theequipment identification and the source message. A unique destinationserver may need to be defined so that virtually all messages will besaved in a message database. The service application on the accountserver may parse all of these messages and take action depending on theuser configuration for asynchronous events.

When the gateway receives an equipment failure indication, the messagemay be sent inside an asynchronous message to the server so it canprocess it. The server may receive it and use the gateway address, thedevice identification and the message name to select the action to take.

If the message needs to be sent to the house owner, it may send it usingthe configured messaging type (email or SMS). Then, when the user logsinto its account, an alert may be present and inform the user of aproblem in the home HVAC system.

There may be a remote gateway round robin lock mechanism. Marketingrequirements may state that a remote gateway needs to communicate to,for instance, four devices or hosts. The whole system may make the userfeel that the gateway communicates with multi-hosts synchronously. Butthe current RF technology cannot necessarily communicate with four RFhosts synchronously. To resolve this issue, it may be required to designa new mechanism (e.g., lock mechanism) in the gateway for the RFinterface. By using this mechanism, the user may feel that the gatewaywould communicate with multi-hosts synchronously, and information fromeach host may be updated in a timely fashion.

A round robin with a lock mechanism may be created to solve thesynchronization issue. The gateway may communicate with only one RF hostat a time. There may be a lock mechanism during round robin, which mayhelp service a user request from the cloud to one specific host.

If there is no command from the server (by a remote user) for a specifichost, the gateway may switch to communicate to another RF host. Thegateway may stay synchronous to the current RF host for a specificperiod of time and then move to the next RF host. This may permit thegateway to capture the host current status information, such as actualtemperature for a thermostat device.

When the gateway is enrolled or linked to more than one RF host, thenthe round robin mechanism may be started. This may enable the gateway tosynchronize the RF communication to the first host in the sequence. Thegateway may query this host information for the period allowed relativeto this synchronization. Then the gateway may change the synchronizationto the following host in the sequence and then send an RF message tothat host.

This process may continue until a user logged on the server performs amodification on one of the hosts linked to the remote gateway. Thegateway may then interrupt the round robin sequence to performsynchronization to the host to change. Synchronization may be maintainedfor a specific time. When the synchronization period is over, a quickscheduling period may be started to cycle the other hosts so that thegateway can get status information of the other RF hosts in the sequencewithin a limited amount of time.

A complete sequence cycle time may be limited, so the actual statusinformation of each RF host can be collected within an acceptableperiod. For a project, the cycle may be set to 15 minutes. So that maygive 225 seconds to the gateway to get virtually all of the changes andactual status from one host in a configuration where there are fourhosts linked in the RF network. These times and the number of hosts areillustrative examples. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a roundrobin sequence.

Another version of a round robin for the gateway system may be utilized.The word “lock” may have a similar meaning as the words “suspend state”.“Suspend state” may mean that the system suspends the normal round robinand syncs to a specific host or group to implement a change. Gettingupdates from all of the hosts within 15 minutes is not necessarily avery strict requirement. Other periods of times for getting updates maybe implemented.

The gateway system may continuously work on a high priority task anddelay or reject the other low priority tasks within a predefined limitedtime period. A lock for a service request to ensure the least full loopround robin within 15 minutes is not necessarily a must-have mechanism(i.e., round robin lock).

Highlights of another version of the round robin may incorporate the“round robin lock” and the quick round state being removed. This versionmay have the round robin suspend state. A suspend state may justimplement the service request, but will not necessarily do all of thenormal round queries for group information and/or will not necessarilyconsider the group to have been rounded.

A round robin order may start from a smallest index of the group whichhas not been rounded. Only when the gateway has queried groupinformation and has been stayed with that group for a round robinperiod, it may be considered as rounded. For example, with hosts orgroups 1, 2, 3, 4, the gateway may get updates from group 2 and receivea service request to switch to group 4. The gateway may return to group2 to finish the normal round robin, and then go through groups 3 and 4,one by one.

An example of round robin timings may incorporate a normal round robinperiod of 225 seconds, a round robin suspend period for a change requestof 160 seconds, and a round robin suspend period for a query request of75 seconds. For a specific application of round robin, these timeperiods may be adjusted.

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a gateway device 11 and its interactions outsidethe device. Device 11 may have a one-way asynchronous connection with arouter 12 and a two-way synchronous connection with router 12. Theone-way connection may be for a reporting message. The two-wayconnection may be for commands to the gateway device and forconfiguration control. Router 12 may extend the connection to aninternet cloud 13. Cloud 13 may be connected to a web user component 14and a smart phone user component 15. The connection to cloud 13 mayincorporate a house broadband. Gateway device 11 may have a connectionto an external network 16. Device 11 may have connections to numeroushosts, such as for example, HVAC equipment 17 and heating equipment 18.Other hosts may also be connected to device 11. The connections may beto hosts 17 and 18 via RF communications. Connections to the hosts maybe made one at a time with a round robin among the hosts. Round robinmay be effected by gateway device 11. Device 11 may also incorporatemailboxes which are interfaced with various networks.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of additional items in a system. There may be ahouse 21 with gateway 11 and router 12. Hosts 19, such as thermostats,an outdoor air sensor 20 and a remote thermostat 29, may have RFconnections to gateway 11. Router 12 may connect gateway 11 to internetcloud 13. Internet cloud 13 may provide connections to variousapplicators 22 such as smart phone component 15, web user component 14,iPad™ 24, and so forth. Cloud 13 may provide a connection to a serverinfrastructure (or server) 23 incorporating communications, databases,application servers, and so forth.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of components incorporated in gateway 11. Thegateway may incorporate a microprocessor 31 which is a core processorfor the gateway to run application software. Processor 31 may beconnected to a crystal 32 for a master clock. An SDRAM 33 may beconnected to processor 31 for application program running. Processor 31may be connected to a debug unit 34 which is used for factory testcommunication and a debugging information output. A user interface unit35 may be connected to processor 31. Unit 35 may incorporate a button 36which is dedicated for RF enrollment and compliance with an enrollmentinterface specification. Unit 35 may also incorporate, for instance, sixtriple color LED's 37 which indicate gateway working status, powerindication and ethernet status indication.

Processor 31 may be connected to an RF module 38. Module 38 mayincorporate an RF radio control micro 39 with RF toolkit softwarerunning on the micro to provide RF communication capability. Micro 39may have toolkit software 41 which is responsible for RF communicationand communicates with the main processor 31 via a UART port for RFevents and messages. Micro 39 may also have a BSL 42 for a programminginterface during a field upgrade. Module 38 may have an RF transceiver43 which is responsible for RF signal transmission and receiving, andconnected to micro 39. Two antennas 44 may be connected to transceiver43.

Processor 31 may be connected to a PHY chip 45 which in turn isconnected to an ethernet jack 46 for plug-in in an ethernet cable.Processor 31 may also be connected to a serial flash 47 used to store acustomized bootloader 48, gateway application software image 49, factorydata 51, RFTK image 52, application run data (NVM) 53, and other itemsas needed. Bootloader 48 may be run after startup, read a tag of aprogram image and decide which image should be the one from which tostart. Factory data 51 may incorporate a media access control (MAC)identification (ID), an encryption key, hardware revision, andmanufacture and test information from the factory. RFTK image 52 may beused for an RF radio module 38 field upgrade. The image 52 may bedownloaded from ethernet and then programmed into the RF micro 39 in thefield.

A power supply 54 may provide power requirements for components ofgateway device 11. Supply 54 may be powered with an external 5 VDCadapter. An external reset circuit 55 may be used as a backup solutionfor device 11 recovery. A ZigBee module 56 may incorporate a modulespace, test pins and a serial port, if needed, for device 11.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of a message sequence of a mailbox at device 11. Areport 64 may be sent by a message owner 61 to a mailbox 62. If data haschanged in report 64 in comparison with data in a possible reportalready at the mailbox 62, then report 64 may be forwarded to a messageconsumer 63. If data has not changed in report 64 in comparison withdata in a possible report already at mailbox 62, then report 64 is notnecessarily forwarded to message consumer 64. An action may then be “setdata valid/no further action” 60. A change 65 may be provided back bymessage consumer 63 to mailbox 62. Change 65 may be forwarded frommailbox 62 to message owner 61, with “set change request flag”. A report66 may be sent from message owner 61 to mailbox 62. Report 66 may beforwarded with “clear change request flag” to message consumer 63. Aquery 67 may be sent from message consumer 63 to mailbox 62 as towhether the data of the report 66 is valid. If the data is valid, then aresponse with a report 68 may be sent from mailbox 62 to messageconsumer 63. If the data is invalid, then a query 69 may be sent frommailbox 62 to message owner 61. A report 70 to mailbox 62 may be sent bymessage owner 61. Mailbox 62 may forward report 70 with “set data valid”to message consumer 63.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of a gateway 75 and four hosts (#1, #2, #3, #4) 71,72, 73, 74, respectively, to which gateway 75 may individually sync whencommunicating. Gateway 75 may maintain a group list of the hosts withitems group ID, wireless apparatus revision and communication status(e.g., in sync, OK, error or so forth) for round robin operation. Also aservice 76 may be provided.

At a startup 77, at an action 80, gateway 75 may sync to host 71. Ifthere is a communication error, then group status may be set to comm.error, and gateway 75 may go to the next host at action 78. If there isa synchronization with host 71, then there may be a communication 79.Gateway 75 may send a query residential network protocol (RNP) message81 to host 71. If there is a communication error, then a message flagmay be set to invalid and group status be set to comm. error, andgateway 75 may go to the next host at action 82. If message 81 or reportis received, then an RNP report 83 may be sent to gateway 75. Gateway 75may update its mailbox and send a change to service 76, if there is one,at action 84.

Gateway 75 may next sync to host 72 at an action 85. Gateway 75 mayproceed through actions and/or steps like those of 78, 79, 81, 82, 83and 84 with respect to host 71. After host 72, gateway 75 may similarlyproceed with hosts 73 and 74 with like actions and/or steps like thoserelative to hosts 71 and 72, including syncs 86 and 87, respectively.Gateway 75 may return to host 71 with a sync action 80. The sync-ingwith hosts 71-74 may be performed in a round robin fashion. The timespent by gateway 75 with a host may be a round robin cycle perioddivided by the number of hosts.

The round robin cycle may be interrupted or suspended at an action 91 byservice 76 wherein data session is open at item 88. There may be achange request to, for example, host 73 during the round robin cycleperiod, particularly if gateway 75 is not in synch with host 73, at anaction 89. A sync to host 73 and a change may be forwarded to host 73 atan action 92 for a temporary sync period from actions 92 to 93. Uponcompletion of a communication from gateway 75 to host 73, round robinmay be resumed with an action 93.

FIG. 6 is a diagram of a round robin process which may be appliedrelative to gateway 75 and hosts 71-74 relative to synchronouscommunications in FIG. 5. At a startup 95, a number (N) hosts, whichgateway 75 is enrolled with, may be indicated at a symbol 96. If N>1,then an approach in symbol 97 may begin at initial 98. Normal schedulingat symbol 99 may be an action or step to be taken. The time or intervalof time for gateway 75 to be in sync with a host may be, for example,225 seconds as an interval. A total time to be spent with all of thehosts during one round robin cycle may for instance be 15 minutes. Thus,an interval may be the cycle divided by a number of hosts, which in anillustrative example could be four, resulting in a 225 second interval.The cycle time and the number of hosts may be different than those ofthe example provided herein. If an interrupt is required, then the syncto the specific host may be suspended as indicated at symbol 101. In acase of interrupt to round robin, a change to the other host may bereceived via a data session, and a query to the other host and mailboxmay be invalid, as noted in symbol 102. Along indication 103, there maybe a 75 second duration from a last change to the present host or aminimum time for a quick schedule left where an error code is sent tothe data service. There may be a quick scheduling for unscheduled hostsat symbol 104. A power interrupt at indication 105 may go to symbol 101for suspending the sync to the specific host at symbol 104. 75 secondsmay be indicated for other unscheduled hosts at an action item 106. Onan indication 107 to symbol 99, for normal scheduling, all unscheduledhosts for the present round may have been scheduled.

In a case at symbol 108 where N<=1, round robin may be deemed inactive.N>1 may mean a signal from symbol 108 to round robin active at symbol97, and N=1 may mean a signal from symbol 97 to round robin inactive atsymbol 108. An exception in FIG. 6, according to symbol 109 is relativeto a service change request coming but not responded to yet, and theremay be another query from the service and the mailbox has not validdata.

FIG. 7 is a diagram of a mailbox setup. A mailbox 111 may have an RNPdata interface at symbol 112 with output connections to RNP data setupat symbol 113, an interface to a server infrastructure (or server) atsymbol 114 and to interface to RFCC at symbol 115. The interface to theserver infrastructure at symbol 114 may have an output connection totransmit a queued transport protocol message at symbol 116 and an inputconnection from a process transport protocol message at symbol 117.Symbols 116 and 117 may be incorporated by a transport protocol messagehandler at symbol 118.

Interface to RFCC at symbol 115 may have an output connection to roundrobin mngr at symbol 119 and an input connection from RFCC RNP msgs atsymbol 121. Symbol 119 may be incorporated by RF link enrollment and auser interface at symbol 122. Symbol 121 may be incorporated by an RFlink message handler at symbol 123.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing some details of the RF link enrollment anduser interface in symbol 122 of FIG. 7. Round robin mngr at symbol 119may have an output connection to an RF enroll at symbol 124 which iswithin symbol 122. RF enroll of symbol 124 may have an output connectionto a gateway enroll support at symbol 125 within symbol 122. RF enrollat symbol 124 may also have output connections to transmit a queuedtransport protocol message at symbol 116 of the message handler atsymbol 118, NVM app data storage at symbol 126, RFCC at symbol 127, anLED at symbol 128 and a button at symbol 129. Gateway enroll support atsymbol 125 may have an output connection to an RF serial at symbol 131.Board support at symbol 132 may incorporate an LED at symbol 128, thebutton at symbol 129 and RF serial at symbol 131. Process the transportprotocol message at symbol 117 may have an output connection to symbol114 having interface to a server infrastructure of mailbox 111. Aninterface to RFCC at symbol 115 of mailbox 111 may have an outputconnection to round robin mngr at symbol 119.

FIG. 9 is a diagram of a transport protocol message handler at symbol118 having additional details relative to the transport protocol messagehandler at symbol 118 of FIG. 8. Process the transport protocol messageat symbol 117 may have an output connection to transmit the queuedtransport protocol message at symbol 116, an output connection tointerface to a server infrastructure at symbol 114 of mailbox 111, anoutput connection to queue data session rev'd transport protocol data atsymbol 134, and an output connection to queue from the transportprotocol at symbol 135 incorporated by a program image manager at symbol136.

Transmit queued the transport protocol message at symbol 116 may have anoutput connection to queue data for the transport protocol async atsymbol 137, an output connection to build a transport protocol messageat symbol 138, an output connection to queue for the transport protocolat symbol 139, and an output connection to v st at symbol 141 which isincorporated by server infrastructure (reused code) at symbol 142.

Transmit queued transport protocol message at symbol 116 may have aninput connection from process transport protocol message at symbol 117,an input connection from queue data for transport protocol async atsymbol 137, an input connection from interface to a serverinfrastructure at symbol 114, an input connection from RF enroll atsymbol 124 within an RF link at symbol 122, and an input connection froma transmit transport protocol checkin message at symbol 143.

A program image manager of a symbol 144 may be incorporated, along withsymbols 135 and 139, by symbol 136 for the program image manager, andmay have an output connection to queue for a transport protocol atsymbol 139 and an output connection to a queue from the transportprotocol at symbol 135.

Data for a transport protocol at symbol 145 may have an input connectionfrom queue for a transport protocol at symbol 139 and an outputconnection to program image manager at symbol 144. Data from a transportprotocol at symbol 146 may have an input connection from queue from atransport protocol at symbol 135 and an output connection to programimage manager at symbol 144.

Components that represent the data entity-queue may incorporate g queuedata session rev'd transport protocol data at symbol 134, g queue from atransport protocol at symbol 135, g queue data for a transport protocolasync at symbol 137 and g data for transport protocol at symbol 139.

FIG. 10 is a diagram of a house domain at symbol 151 and an internetdomain at symbol 152. The diagram may display the gateway in itsoperational environment where data are collected from devices in alocation (e.g., a building) and sent to an internet-connected client.Internet clients may incorporate web browsers, smart phones, and soforth. The gateway domain of operation may be the location where it isinstalled. Within the location, the different devices that the gatewaycan connect to may be RF link enabled devices.

The server infrastructure may collect data from the gateway using aninternet link. The data may be kept in a gateway owner's account andmight be accessed using internet clients.

In the domain at symbol 151, a thermostat at symbol 153 may have anoutput connection to a gateway at a symbol 154. A zoning device panel atsymbol 155 may have an output connection to the gateway at symbol 154.An EIM RF link host at symbol 156 may have an output connection to thegateway. Devices at symbol 157, such as an RF enabled thermostat, mayhave an output connection to the EIM RF link host at symbol 156. Thegateway at symbol 154 may have a two-way connection with an in-housebroadband router at symbol 158. There may be a two-way connectionbetween the router at symbol 158 and a server infrastructure at symbol159 within the internet domain at symbol 152. The server may have anoutput connection to a web browser at symbol 161 and an outputconnection to a smart phone at symbol 162.

FIG. 11 is a diagram of a gateway structure. Major modules of thestructure may incorporate a mailbox, an ethernet, RF link and a userinterface. Mailbox components may incorporate data storage which keepsin a memory a data structure (i.e., RNP messages). The mailbox modulemay keep a message class instance in a volatile memory. Only updates ofthe message class should be sent to a server. By doing so, the gatewaymay stay efficient in usage of the server and not necessarily sendduplicate messages. The mailbox may perform a communication link betweenthe components in the gateway. Mailbox components may incorporate twointerfaces to the ethernet and the RF link modules so that the mailboxcan stay decoupled and reusable.

An ethernet interface block may incorporate the following noted modules.A message module and a server infrastructure module may be dedicated tothe transmission of network packets to the server. A serverinfrastructure subscriber may use a TCP/IP stack and encryption moduleto package the data before sending the packet using an ethernet driver.

RF link application components may be modules for enrollment and RNPmessage structure. These modules may be application specific and use anRF common code API module. The modules may ensure that the gateway isreliable in the RF link network. The common code may interface with theserial driver interface to communicate with the RF toolkit in the RFlink radio module.

A software application may also incorporate a module to interact with auser. An input may be performed using a button on a device. Software mayimplement an RF link enrollment function. Three LED's may give softwarefeature status indications to the user.

A user interface, having button and one or more LED's, at symbol 164 mayhave an output connection to an RF unique code enrollment handler atsymbol 165 and an output connection to a server subscriber, including aserver SDK, at symbol 166. The RF unique code enrollment handler atsymbol 165 may have an NMP connection with RF common code at symbol 167.An RF code RNP message structure and handler at symbol 168 may have anRNP connection with the RF common code at symbol 167. The RF common codemay have a connection with a serial driver at symbol 169. The serialdriver may operate at an example 38.4 Kb/s, or at other frequencies. Theserial driver may have a connection to an RF link radio 171. The itemsat symbols 165 and 167-169 may be incorporated in an RF link module atsymbol 172.

The RF unique code RNP message structure and handler at symbol 168 mayhave an RNP connection to a mailbox interface to an RF link at symbol173. The mailbox interface to an RF link at symbol 173 may have an RNPconnection with mailbox data storage at symbol 174. A mailbox datastructure (e.g., data status, engine pointers, and so forth) may benoted. The mailbox data storage at symbol 174 may have an outputconnection to the mailbox structure at symbol 175. Mailbox data storageat symbol 174 may have an RNP connection to a mailbox interface to aserver infrastructure at symbol 176. The items at symbols 173-176 may beincorporated in a mailbox at symbol 177.

The mailbox interface to the server infrastructure at symbol 176 mayhave an RNP connection with a message parser and generator at symbol178. The message parser and generator may have a connection with theserver infrastructure subscriber (including server infrastructure SDK)at symbol 166. The alarm subscriber at symbol 166 may have an RNPconnection with a TCP/IP stack and encryption at symbol 179, which mayhave a connection with an ethernet driver at symbol 181. The ethernetdriver may have a connection with an ethernet card at symbol 182. Theitems at symbols 166, 178, 179 and 181 may be incorporated in theethernet module at symbol 183.

FIGS. 12 and 13 are diagrams of gateway communication approaches. Thegateway may be an RF link multi-system client which can be connected toup to four hosts in the present example. The gateway may be connected tomore or less than four hosts. The gateway may synchronize andcommunicate with one host at a time to receive and send messages. Theapproach here may be a round robin. The gateway may cycle through eachhost for a fixed period of time. A round robin may be interrupted when achange request is sent to a specific device linked to a host.

Messages may be sent by a service application using transport protocolpackets. Messages may be received by the mailbox interface, transformedand set on an RF link region. The mailbox may keep a copy of virtuallyall messages sent by RF link devices and may send only message updatesto the service application when data are modified.

The diagram of FIG. 12 displays a transmission of thermostat userinterface updates from a host domain 1. A message may be communicated upto a web. The diagram of FIG. 13 shows that a user on the web may changea thermostat setpoint and have a transport protocol message sent to thegateway. The round robin process may be interrupted to be synchronouswith the correct host. The gateway may send the message to a targeteddevice (i.e., messages 1.1 to 1.4). The thermostat may update thesetpoint and return a thermostat user interface data report to theservice (i.e., messages 1.5 to 1.7).

FIG. 12 is a diagram of a gateway communication up approach. A gateway185 may have a mailbox 186. A data request of a thermostat userinterface may go to a host domain 191 of an RF link region 187 if thehost domain 191 is in sync according to gateway 185. A report ofthermostat data for the user interface may go from the host domain 191to mailbox 186. Mailbox 186 may validate if message data has changedbefore sending the complete RNP to the service application. The RNP(thermostat data for the user interface) may proceed from mailbox 186via mailbox interface 188 to with a transport protocol link to serviceapplication communication layer 195. A display of a new temperature maybe provided to a web user 196. A round robin control 189 may sync to thenext host domain 192 for a fixed period of time, and redo the dataprocess as done for host domain 191, and again for host domain 193, andso on.

FIG. 13 is a diagram of a gateway communication down approach. A webuser 196 may change a setpoint on a zone, host domain 192. The changemay go to a service application communication layer 195. The change maygo with a transport protocol link as RNP thermostatic data to a mail boxinterface 188 and then to mailbox 186 of gateway 185. Also, frominterface 188, an interrupt round robin host 192 signal may go to roundrobin control 189. When a message RNP change request comes from thetransport protocol, the control may interrupt the round robin to sync onhost 192.

From mailbox 186, the change as thermostat user interface data may go tothe host domain 192. An RNP report may be returned from host domain 192to mailbox 186. The RNP report may proceed from mailbox 186 via mailboxinterface 188 with a transport protocol link to the service applicationlayer 195.

FIG. 14 is a diagram of a service application structure or architecture.A service application may incorporate a database, a web application andcommunication layers. A web module may interact with the web applicationto display information and receive action from button events. Thecommunication layers may be instanced in the service application whenuser activity opens a data session on a web interface. A data sessionmay be opened between the gateway and the service application using acheckin process. Virtually all messages may be sent through the datasession during a user session.

A database may be used when there is no data session between a gatewayand the service application. A synchronous message may be sent in thiscase. The messages may ensure that RF link reports are captured by theservice application much of the time.

In FIG. 14, a gateway 201 may incorporate a mailbox message 202. Datasession reports may flow from gateway 201 to a receive communicationlayer 206 of a service module 203. An async report may flow from gateway201 to a redirector database 205 of a redirector 204. A redirectorcheckin may be done to open a data session. The async report may flowfrom database 205 to the receive communication layer 206. An RNP messagemay flow from layer 206 to a service database 207 of service module 203.Parameter information may be obtained and provided to a web serviceapplication 208 of service module 203. A request may be sent from a webinterface 211 to the web service application 208. In response, displaydevice parameters may go to the web interface 211.

Service functions of web service application 208 may incorporate userauthorizations, gateway registration, and queries at a sessionestablishment. A background process of application 208 may incorporateemail, SMS of faults/alerts, upgrade downloads and monitoring, and soforth.

A query request proceed from web service application 208 to a transmitcommunication layer 209 of service module 203. An RNP change/queryrequest and a transport protocol command may then flow to gateway 201.

FIG. 15 is a diagram of a facility 215 having an IP link to an RF linkgateway 216. Gateway 216 may communicate wirelessly to an RF link hostsuch as a thermostat 219. A wireless router 218 may be connected to RFlink gateway 216 with an ethernet cable 217. Wireless control may beachieved via router 218, ethernet cable 217 and RF link gateway 216.Thermostat 219 may receive control signals and provide informationsignals to a gateway 216. Control may also be via items 225 such as, forexample, a laptop, a phone, a WiFi pad, or other items, and wirelesscontrol through internet router 218, cable 217 and gateway 216. Outdoorair sensor 221 may provide data to thermostat 219, and portable comfortcontrol 222 may operate thermostat 219. Thermostat 219 may have controlof air handler 223 and air conditioner 224.

Gateway 216 may communicate wirelessly with various hosts in facility orhome 215. A web site may show, for instance, four zones separately inFIG. 16. Three of the zones may be ones with thermostats 226, 227 and228, respectively. A fourth zone may one with a thermostat 219 wired toa zoning device with an RF link connected humidifier 229. Informationfrom thermostats 226-228 and 219 may then be wirelessly communicated tohosts by gateway 216.

Transport protocol service should implement commands in a commandmessage to operate and manage a gateway remotely. The commands maymodify the behavior of the device or start process action. No permanentitems are necessarily kept. Table 326 of FIG. 17 reveals commanddescriptions.

There may be different responses from a gateway. A header may be usedfor the response/reports. Table 327 of FIG. 18 shows a response/reporthaving a header showing fields, bits, name and description.

Table 328 of FIG. 19 may be an example of a device information response.A message structure may follow the header. The report structure may besent automatically from a gateway or after a request from the service.Such message would be sent only for the RF link type of device.

FIG. 20 is a diagram of a table 334 showing a structure of a managementcommand message which may reveal the basic approach for sending commandsto a device and performing management.

Table 341 of FIG. 21 reveals a structure for encapsulating RF linkinformation to be sent to a transport protocol service. The structuremay be repeated for each RNP (residential network protocol) message in adata payload.

The service application should have a command to reset a particulargateway device. A device reset may reset CPUs. When the device is reset,the service may log an event.

The service application should have a command to request a particulargateway to stop sending transactions to the service. Sending checkinpackets may be resumed after a local reset.

The gateway should send a system configuration message at a sessionestablishment to inform the service of the system time and of the hoststatus and the domain ID. The message may be sent without a servicerequest by the gateway as a report.

Asynchronous messaging communication may be a communication approach fora gateway to inform the service using one message of information. Themessage cannot necessarily be sent from the service to one gateway.

An asynchronous packet may be sent by the gateway to a redirector servern a specific port to make the payload information available for theservice application. It may be a one-way message. The service cannotnecessarily send an asynchronous message to the gateway.

The gateway should use the transport protocol, encapsulated in anasynchronous structure to send a packet to the transport protocolservice application. The packet may be received by the redirector serverand be provided to the service application, using a database query. Whenthere is not a data session open, faults and errors may be sent using anasynchronous message.

FIGS. 22a-22r are diagrams schematics of hardware for the presentsystem. Designations in the Figures indicate connections among the itemsin the schematics. FIG. 22a is a diagram of a 32-bit microcontroller345. FIG. 22b is a diagram of the circuitry 346 of the LED indicatorsfor a gateway. Lines 347 and 348 in FIG. 22a are connected to lines 347and 348, respectively, in FIG. 22b . FIG. 22c is a diagram of a 32-bitmicrocontroller 349. FIG. 22d shows a chip (#015-91-0200) 351 which maybe connected to a 32 bit microcontroller 352 in FIG. 22e , via lines353, 354, 355, 356, 357 and 358 between FIGS. 22d and 22e . FIG. 22f isa diagram of components 359 which may be connected to the respectivelynoted terminals to the circuitry of the diagrams in FIGS. 22d and 22e .FIGS. 22g and 22h are diagrams of power supply circuitry 361 and 363,respectively. The circuitry 361 and 363 may be connected to each otherwith a line 362. FIG. 22i is a diagram of components 364 which may beconnected to the respectively noted terminals to the circuitry of thediagrams in FIGS. 22g and 22h . FIG. 22j is a diagram incorporating aDRAM 365 which may be pin compatible with an IS4ZVS16100E-10TLI(1.8V).FIG. 22k is a diagram incorporating a flash memory 366. FIG. 22l is adiagram incorporating an oscillator 367 and an ethernet PHY 368. FIG.22m is a diagram of a LED circuit 369. Circuit 369 may be connected toethernet PHY 368 via a line 371. FIG. 22n is a diagram of an interfacecircuit 372. Circuit 372 may be connected to ethernet PHY 368 via lines373, 374, 375, 376 and 377. FIG. 22o is a diagram of an antennacircuitry 378. FIG. 22p is a diagram of a 16-bit microcontroller 379.Antenna circuitry 378 of FIG. 22o and microcontroller 379 of FIG. 22pmay be connected by lines 381 and 382 between FIGS. 22o and 22p . FIG.22q is a diagram of circuitry 383 which is associated withmicrocontroller 379 of FIG. 22p and antenna circuitry 378. Lines 384 and385 of antenna circuitry of FIG. 22o are connected to lines 384 and 385of circuitry 383 of FIG. 22q via lines 384 and 385 in the diagram ofFIG. 22p . Circuitry 383 of FIG. 22q and microcontroller 379 of FIG. 22pare interconnected with lines 386, 391, 392, 393, 394, 395, 396, 397,398, 399, 401, 402, 403, 404, 405 and 406, as indicated in the diagramsof FIGS. 22p and 22q . FIG. 22r is a diagram of circuitry items 411which may be connected to other circuitry in one or more Figures ofFIGS. 22a -22 q.

To recap, a gateway control system for residential, light commercial,and/or commercial equipment may incorporate a gateway device, heating,ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment connected to thegateway device, a mailbox data storage mechanism incorporated in thegateway device, and a collection device connected to the mailbox datastorage mechanism. The mailbox may have an interface to the Ethernet,internet, wire and/or wireless modules. Wireless modules or protocolsmay consist of, for examples, ZigBee, and those of various brands. Thesystem may further incorporate a remote access mechanism connected tothe gateway device and an internet cloud. A gateway control system andan approach of controlling a gateway may also be for regular and heavycommercial equipment.

A message may be sent by a server connected to the internet cloud usinga first protocol packet. The message may be received by the interface ofthe mailbox. The gateway device may use a first protocol for wirelessaccess capability to components of the HVAC equipment. The mailbox maykeep a copy of messages sent from wireless components of HVAC equipment.The mailbox may send messages via the interface to a server virtuallyjust when content of the respective messages is modified and/or updated.

When a message is received by the gateway device, a comparison of themessage may be made with information in data storage of the mailbox. Ifthere is new data in the message as a result of the comparison, then themessage may be updated before being sent out. The gateway device mayrespond to a query from the server with the latest information stored inthe mailbox.

Information in a message may be deemed invalid because the message isempty or has a communication error. If information in a message isdeemed invalid or outdated, then a query about the information may besent to a source of the information for an update.

The mailbox may provide configurable communication capabilities betweendifferent protocols. The mailbox may be a communication link amongcomponents in the gateway device.

The mailbox may hold received messages in a volatile memory. Virtuallyjust updates of messages in the volatile memory may be sent to a server.

An approach of controlling a gateway for residential, light commercial,and/or commercial equipment may incorporate providing a gateway device,connecting heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment tothe gateway device, incorporating a mailbox data storage mechanism inthe gateway device, and connecting a collection device to the mailboxdata storage mechanism.

The approach may further incorporate connecting a remote accessmechanism to the gateway device and an internet cloud. The mailbox mayprovide configurable communication capabilities between various RFprotocols. The mailbox may incorporate at least one interface to anEthernet, internet, wire and/or wireless module.

When a message is received by the gateway device, a comparison of themessage may be made with information in data storage of the mailbox. Ifthere is new data in the message as a result of the comparison, then themessage may be updated before being sent out.

A gateway control system for residential, light commercial, and/orcommercial equipment may incorporate a gateway device, heating,ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment connected to thegateway device, a mailbox having a data storage mechanism incorporatedin the gateway device, and a collection device connected to the mailboxdata storage mechanism. The gateway device may be connectable to anetwork, a wire medium and/or a wireless medium.

The mailbox may provide configurable communication capabilities betweenvarious protocols. A connection of the gateway device to the HVACequipment may be wireless.

The mailbox may keep a copy of messages sent from wireless HVACequipment. When a message is received by the gateway device, acomparison of the message may be made with information in the datastorage mechanism of the mailbox. If there is new data in the message asa result of the comparison, then the message may be updated before beingsent out to a requester. The gateway device may use a first protocol forwireless access capability to the HVAC equipment.

The mailbox may send messages to a remote server virtually just whencontent of the respective messages is modified and/or updated. However,the mailbox may send messages to a requester as a response to a request.

In the present specification, some of the matter may be of ahypothetical or prophetic nature although stated in another manner ortense.

Although the present system and/or approach has been described withrespect to at least one illustrative example, many variations andmodifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art uponreading the specification. It is therefore the intention that theappended claims be interpreted as broadly as possible in view of therelated art to include all such variations and modifications.

What is claimed is:
 1. A gateway control system for residentialequipment comprising: a gateway device; heating, ventilation and airconditioning (HVAC) equipment connected to the gateway device; a mailboxhaving a data storage mechanism incorporated in the gateway device; alock mechanism incorporated in the gateway device; a collection deviceconnected to the mailbox; a remote access mechanism connected to thegateway device and an internet cloud; and wherein the gateway deviceincludes a two-way synchronous connection with the remote accessmechanism and an asynchronous one-way connection with the remote accessmechanism; wherein the lock mechanism is configured to facilitate thetwo-way synchronous connection by delaying or rejecting low prioritytasks in favor of high priority tasks for a limited time; wherein themailbox comprises a first interface to communicate with an externaldevice using a first message protocol and a second interface tocommunicate with two or more components of the HVAC equipment using asecond message protocol, wherein, when the gateway device receives arequest for data from the external device about a component of the HVACequipment, the gateway device: determines whether a recent messagecontaining the data about the component of the HVAC equipment and storedin the mailbox is valid; if the recent message stored in the mailbox isvalid, responds to the external device with the recent message stored inthe mailbox; and if the recent message stored in the mailbox is invalid,queries the component of the HVAC equipment to provide updated datausing the lock mechanism and respond to the external device with amessage containing the updated data about the component of the HVACequipment.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein: the external device isconnected to the internet cloud using a first protocol packet; andmessages from the internet cloud are received by the first interface ofthe mailbox.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein: the second communicationinterface includes wireless access capability to components of the HVACequipment; the mailbox receives messages sent from wireless componentsof the HVAC equipment, keeps a copy of the received messages; and themailbox sends the received messages via the first interface to a serverjust when content of the received messages is modified and/or updated.4. The system of claim 1, wherein: when a message is received by thegateway device, a comparison of the received message is made withinformation in the data storage mechanism of the mailbox; and if thereis new data in the received message as a result of the comparison, thenthe received message is updated before being sent out.
 5. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the external device is a server.
 6. The system of claim1, wherein the recent message stored in the mailbox is deemed invalidbecause the recent message is empty or has a communication error.
 7. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the mailbox provides configurablecommunication capabilities between different protocols.
 8. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the mailbox is a communication link among components inthe gateway device.
 9. The system of claim 1, wherein: the mailbox holdsreceived messages in a volatile memory; and just updates of messages inthe volatile memory are sent to a server.
 10. The system of claim 1,wherein, to provide the updated data, the gateway device is configuredto refrain from communicating with another HVAC component of the HVACequipment for the limited time.
 11. An approach of controlling a gatewayfor residential equipment comprising: providing a gateway deviceincluding a two-way synchronous connection with a remote accessmechanism and an asynchronous one-way connection with the remote accessmechanism; connecting heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC)equipment to the gateway device, the HVAC equipment including aplurality of hosts; incorporating a mailbox having a data storagemechanism in the gateway device; incorporating a lock mechanism in thegateway device; and connecting a collection device to the mailbox,wherein the lock mechanism of the gateway device synchronizes with eachof the plurality of hosts in a round robin manner by delaying orrejecting low priority tasks in favor of high priority task for alimited time, and wherein, when the gateway device receives a messagefrom an external device referencing a specific host, in response to thegateway device not being synchronized with the specific host, thegateway device suspends, using the lock mechanism, the round robinsynchronization and initiates a temporary synchronization with thespecific host.
 12. The approach of claim 11, further comprisingconnecting the remote access mechanism to the gateway device and aninternet cloud.
 13. The approach of claim 11, wherein the mailboxprovides configurable communication capabilities between various radiofrequency (RF) protocols.
 14. The approach of claim 11, wherein themailbox comprises at least one interface to an Ethernet, internet, wireand/or wireless module.
 15. The approach of claim 11, wherein: when themessage is received by the gateway device from a host, a comparison ofthe received message is made with information in the data storagemechanism of the mailbox; and if there is new data in the receivedmessage as a result of the comparison, then the received message isupdated before being sent out.
 16. A gateway control system forresidential equipment comprising: a gateway device; heating, ventilationand air conditioning (HVAC) equipment including two or more componentsconnected to the gateway device; a mailbox having a data storagemechanism incorporated in the gateway device; a lock mechanismincorporated in the gateway device; and a collection device connected tothe mailbox; a remote access mechanism connected to the gateway deviceand an internet cloud; and wherein the gateway device includes a two-waysynchronous connection with the remote access mechanism and anasynchronous one-way connection with the remote access mechanism,wherein the lock mechanism is configured to facilitate the two-waysynchronous connection by delaying or rejecting low priority tasks infavor of high priority tasks for a limited time, wherein the gatewaydevice is connectable to a network, a wire medium and/or a wirelessmedium, wherein the mailbox stores a copy of recent messages sent fromthe HVAC equipment, wherein, when the gateway device receives a requestfor information about the HVAC equipment, the gateway device: determineswhether a recent message sent from the HVAC equipment and stored in themailbox is valid; if the recent message stored in the mailbox is valid,respond to the request with the recent message stored in the mailbox;and if the recent message stored in the mailbox is invalid, query theHVAC component to provide an updated message using the lock mechanismand respond to the request with the updated message.
 17. The system ofclaim 16, wherein the mailbox provides configurable communicationcapabilities between various protocols.
 18. The system of claim 17,wherein: a connection of the gateway device to the HVAC equipment iswireless.
 19. The system of claim 18, wherein: when a message isreceived by the gateway device, a comparison of the received message ismade with information in the data storage mechanism of the mailbox; andif there is new data in the received message as a result of thecomparison, then the received message is updated before being sent outto a requester.
 20. The system of claim 18, wherein: the gateway deviceuses a first protocol for wireless access capability to the HVACequipment; the mailbox sends messages to a remote server just whencontent of the respective messages is modified and/or updated; and themailbox sends messages to a requester as a response to a request.